Have You Received The Holy Ghost Since You Believed Series

21So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

Contrast that with Chapter 8, verse 1: There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. ie. If you walk in the Spirit, you won’t have to feel guilty anymore; you won’t be guilty.

That doesn’t sound like the same man talking, does it? What has changed? I believe that the phrase, “who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Holds the answer. Gal 5:16,17 says 16 Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. Our natural spirit is at war with God’s Spirit-the Holy Spirit-so we must follow where He leads, not where we want to go.

2. Helping you live the Christian life is one part of the Spirit’s job, and it’s an important one, for if you aren’t living what you’re preaching, you won’t make much of an impact on your world. As a matter of fact, they’ll probably laugh when you try to tell them about Jesus. It’s obviously not working for you, so why should they try?

As I was reading this week, 1 Cor 4:20 jumped off the page at me. It says, “For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of talk, but of power.” Unless your life backs up what you’re saying, then you are spiritually impotent. But that’s where the Holy Spirit comes in. Do you recall that verse, “you shall receive power when the Holy Ghost comes upon you.” (Acts 1:8) “Oh great! I always wanted a little power. Now I won’t have to be afraid of that bully. Every day that bully chases me and calls me names. Now that I have the Holy Spirit, I’ll just stand up and tell her, ‘You leave me alone, Linda!’” No. That’s not the kind of power. He gives us power to be martyrs. That’s the Greek word, marturea; we translate it, ‘witnesses’. The Spirit’s primary task is to help us tell others effectively about Jesus.

When you accept Jesus as your Saviour, you receive the Holy Spirit as a birthday gift for being ‘born again’. And you don’t just receive a little of Him; you receive all the Holy Spirit you’ll ever have. He doesn’t come in pieces; He’s a person. It’s kind of like buying a car; you don’t just buy the hood this week, and the fender next week. It comes as a package. Then you learn how to drive it, and how to get the most out of it—especially the most mileage these days.

Some people, when they’re born again, give their whole lives to God immediately. The old-timers used to call it being ‘sold out’ to God. Driving the new car just seems to come naturally to them. Most of us notice that, although we’re saved, and on our way to Heaven, we still have serious trouble with temptation and habits. Sometimes, we have difficulty telling our friends and family what Jesus has done for us. It’s then that we realize we’re only using the trunk, the hood and one fender of our new car. As we study the scriptures, we learn that God wants all of us, just as we want a car that runs, with windows that go up and down, and air conditioning, and brakes.